Minus the Bear & Cursive @ Club Nokia

It’s never too late to discover great music

I popped my press/photography pass cherry with front row access to Cursive and Minus the Bear last Friday night at Club Nokia. Unfamiliar with both bands prior to the show (less the couple of songs I heard on Spotify), I found myself wrapped up in the cliche that it’s better late than never.

Cursive took the stage, and frontman Tim Kasher injected his performance with passion, dance, and a classic Eddie Vedder head sway. Halfway through his set, Kasher asked the audience if we knew what to do with all of our free time now that the elections were over. To me, the answer was obvious: listen to good indie rock music, of course!

After a quick intermission, Minus the Bear ascended the stage through a thick white light-filled fog, hitting their set full throttle. Every single one of these guys is an incredible musician. Seriously. There is not a single weak link in the band.

Realizing there was no way I was going to be able to keep up with the explosive lighting changes, I decided to just shoot wild and hope for the best. That being said, I found it nearly impossible to take my eyes off bassist Cory Murchy, and he was equally as difficult to shoot. He danced all night, rocking back and forth on every beat, jumping on the changes, and maintaining a stellar rockstar swagger throughout the show.

Dave Knudson is the real deal. His string tapping skills fit so well into the melody of each song, you’d think he coined that trick long before his rock and roll predecessors. Every time I watched him, I just had to smile in appreciation.

Minus the Bear put on a terrific show. I was lucky to be there and happy to have their music pop up in my playlist. Enjoy the pics below, and be sure to check out our full photo sets of Cursive and Minus the Bear from the show!